Comparative study on the pyrolysis characteristics and gaseous release behavior of different reconstituted tobacco cut stem in processing

• Published in: Journal of Applied Science and Engineering Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 359 - 368
• Main Authors: Miao Liang, Jiahui Zhang, Baozhi Li, Qi Fu, Yaning Hu, Zhaohui Ren, Ruili Li, Chengzhe Cui, Junsong Zhang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tamkang University Press 2026
• Subjects: pyrolysis characteristics; pyrolysis kinetics; pyrolysis products; reconstituted tobacco cut stem; tg-ftir
• ISSN: 2708-9967; 2708-9975
• DOI: 10.6180/jase.202602_29(2).0011

Study on the pyrolysis behavior of reconstituted tobacco cut stem (RTCS), a new developed cigarette material produced from the abundant wasted tobacco stem, is beneficial for the quality controlling of RTCS during its production process. In this study, the structural characterization and pyrolysis characteristics of RTCS in processing were investigated. Analysis of apparent morphology and chemical composition indicated that key processing steps exhibited significant impact on the color and main components of RTCS samples. FTIR and SEM characterization indicated the surface functional groups and microstructure of RTCS samples experienced varying degrees of change during the extraction and backfilling process. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the decomposition process of RTCS can be divided into four stages, namely (I) water removal stage, (II) volatilization of small molecular with low boiling points and decomposition of hemicelluloses, (III) decomposition of cellulose, (IV) decomposition of lignin and carbonization. The extraction treatment increased the Ti (from 231.2 °C to 282.6 °C), Tf (from 353.3 °C to 369.3 °C) and DTGmax (from 7.53%/min to 13.90%/min) in Stage III, and the CPI (Comprehensive Pyrolysis Index) for TS-E (Tobacco Stem-Extraction) and TS-R (Tobacco Stem-Reconstituted) was improved as compared with that of TS-B (Tobacco Stem-Blank) owing to the removal and backfilling of volatile components as well as the changed microstructure. On-line FTIR and GC-MS analysis of the released pyrolytic gaseous products of different RTCS samples was different from each other in terms of release temperature and release amount. The pyrolysis kinetics and thermodynamics analysis showed the extraction and backfilling treatment of RTCS decreased the activation energy, enthalpy and entropy of the original tobacco stem.